Hand grips on golf clubs and other objects have a circumference which is grasped in a user's hand. Typically, the circumferential surface is at least in part rounded or curved, and may also include flat areas.
Gripping the grip tightly enough should prevent movement of the grip longitudinally along a long axis and/or circumferentially around the axis. The grip surface should be comfortable for the person holding the grip. Further, it would be beneficial for the grip surface to enable removal of moisture, oil, perspiration, etc. from the person's hand when holding the grip, and have a surface which allows the grip to be held with the least amount of hand pressure.
There are various designs of hand grips, of which golf grips are an example, which are designed to accomplish at least some of these functions. Some grips have a smooth surface, which is difficult to hold when force is applied to the grip or to the object including the grip, including force applied either around the axis of the grip, that is torsional force, or force applied longitudinally along the axis. A smooth grip must be held more tightly than a roughened grip, thus compromising the performance of a golf club or like products. The surface of the grip may be roughened, for example due to the inherent roughness of a particular material used or due to some treatment of the grip surface. As another example, ribs or grooves may be formed at spaced intervals on the grip and may be oriented either circumferentially, longitudinally, obliquely or spirally on the grip; and parallel, oblique to each other or intersecting; or in combinations of all of these. There may be molded or otherwise formed protrusions as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,234 and U.S. Application Publication No. 2003/0088946A1.
Arranging elements on the grip to resist slippage in the longitudinal direction may provide good feel and drag circumferentially, but not longitudinally. Arranging the elements circumferentially may provide good feel and drag longitudinally, but not circumferentially.
An objective of the designer of a grip surface is to have the grip create a “drag” on the gripping hand, so that when the grip is securely gripped, and torsion is thereafter applied to the grip by use of the object to which the grip is attached, as occurs when a golf club is swung and a golf ball is hit for example, the drag resists the torsion and also prevents the grip from slipping from the hand along the axis direction. With light gripping hand pressure (which is made possible by the invention), a golfer will yield the best performance of the golf club and improve his game. People also like a “velvety” feel on the grip, which provides a comfortable feel, not too slick and not too coarse or rough, which restricts how a grip surface is to be formed for achieving desirable drag.
The majority of golf grips currently being sold are buffed grips. This means that they have a surface that has been sanded. This buffed grip provides a velvety feel to the user. However, particularly when a rubber material grip is sanded, the sealed surface skin of the rubber of the grip is removed and the pores of the rubber are exposed to air, sweat, and oil from the hands. The grip actually absorbs elements from the environment and from the hand, eventually making the originally velvety feel grip later feel hard or slick, and the velvety feel is lost. In most cases, by the time a golf club is purchased from a retailer and a golfer has begun playing with it, the grip has lost most of its velvety feel before it first goes into play. If a purchaser wants a velvety feel of the grip at least when he purchases the clubs, the loss of the velvety feel of the grip of one club can negatively impact the sale of the golf club and even of a set of golf clubs.